PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court has granted bail to a former police official and activist of the peace movement Bannu Amn Passun, who was arrested by the counter-terrorism department for sedition, inciting police officials to rebellion, and other offences. Justice Sahibzada Asaduallah of a single-member bench accepted the petition of the accused Jamshed Khan on condition of furnishing two surety bonds of Rs500,000 each. The petitioner was allegedly seen in a social media video instigating people against the Pakistan Army. In the video, which went viral on social media platforms TikTok, Facebook and WhatsApp, he allegedly held the army responsible for the unrest in the country. He was also accused of having links with a proscribed organisation. He was accused of inciting police rebellion, committing other offences Bashir Khan Wazir, the lawyer for the petitioner, insisted that his client was arrested in Sept on the orders of Bannu’s deputy commissioner under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance before being sent to Haripur prison. He added that the Bannu bench of the Peshawar High Court later accepted the accused’s plea last month and ordered his release. The lawyer, however, said that the CTD arrested him in connection with an FIR registered at Peshawar CTD police station on Sept 23, 2024, under different provisions of the Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act (Peca), Pakistan Penal Code and Anti-Terrorism Act. He said that the CTD claimed that he was involved in inciting police personnel to rise against the state, defaming state institutions on social media, waging war against the country, etc. The counsel argued that no evidence was collected by the investigating agency, which could confirm the involvement of the petitioner in anti-state activities. He said that the petitioner’s only fault was that he along with others was addressing a gathering after some people were killed in Bannu. Mr Wazir said that in that address, he had not committed any offence. The bench ruled that the prosecution couldn’t collect any evidence of the involvement of the petitioner in anti-state activities. It observed that nothing was brought on record to prove the accused’s links with any proscribed organisation. The bench added that it went through the relevant records but failed to come across any evidence to connect the petitioner with anti-state activities. It observed that even the language used by the accused in his address to the crowd was not sufficient to suggest that his intention was to instigate the people and that he was involved in a struggle against a disciplined force. On Oct 14, an anti-terrorism court remanded the petitioner into the CTD’s custody for 15 days. However, the CTD, in light of his precarious health condition, requested the court to end his physical custody and send him to prison. It claimed that the accused had been suffering from a brain tumour. The accused was later sent to the jail on remand.